12:30 p.m. – Leahy calls a lunch break until 2 p.m. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) will be the first questioner when the hearing resumes. Liveblogging will continue then in a new post. In the meantime, check back here at the AUL Blog for links to pro-life commentary on what’s happened at the hearings so far.
12:23 p.m. – Feinstein’s questions have turned to issues such as the judicial branch’s role in relation to the executive branch with regard to national-security issues, and the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the commerce clause.
12:09 p.m. – In the wake of her previous answer, perhaps to dispel any question about whether she would uphold Roe v. Wade, Sotomayor emphasizes “the doctrine of stare decisis.” AUL President & CEO Charmaine Yoest’s TownHall.com op-ed gave a preview of why this issue would be central to the hearings.
12:06 p.m. – Sotomayor says Gonzales v. Carhart was asking whether there were safer procedures available than the one at issue in that case. Says the prior precedent set by the court regarding the health and welfare of the woman must be a compelling consideration. For more on Gonzales v. Carhart, in which the court upheld the partial-birth abortion ban, see AUL’s commentary on the case.
12:03 p.m. – Feinstein says the Supreme Court said the law “cannot put a woman’s health at risk.” Says this rule has changed with Gonzales v. Carhart when “the court removed this basic constitutional right from women.”
12:01 p.m. – Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) begins her questioning.
11:59 a.m. – Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, states for the record that a Washington Post study shows that Sotomayor’s decisions were liberal 59 percent of the time, compared with 52 percent for other judges appointed by Democratic presidents.
11:44 a.m. – Hatch tells Sotomayor that although the Supreme Court overturned Ricci in a 5-4 decision, “all nine justices disagreed with your handling of the case.”
11:41 a.m. – [Back online after technical difficulties:] Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) is questioning Sotomayor on her Maloney decision, in which she held that the right to bear arms is not fundamental. (For more on this decision, see Robert Alt’s commentary in NRO’s Bench Memos.)
During the time the AUL Blog was offline, Hatch asked Sotomayor whether the Supreme Court decision that upheld the partial-birth abortion ban, Gonzales v. Carhart, was settled law. According to NRO’s Ed Whelan, she responded, “All Supreme Court precedents are settled, subject to respect as stare decisis.” For more on this issue, see AUL President & CEO Charmaine Yoest’s TownHall.com op-ed.
11:08 a.m. – Leahy announces a 10-minute break; liveblogging will start again when the hearing resumes.
11:04 a.m. – [Back online after technical difficulties:] Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) is questioning Sotomayor now. He is asking about term limits for Supreme Court judges and about antitrust law.
{ 1 trackback }
{ 0 comments… add one now }